the first “what I love”
Today I love:
• The way C handles confusion over certain words. She’ll bust out with these complex sentences but will substitute “blah blah” for a word she doesn’t know/remember.
Or, she will try to remember as best she can, e.g.:
“My back hurts. I need a mattage (massage).”
“Play the Budoe the Reindeer song […]

I recently learned of an upcoming workshop at Big Downtown Cathedral, where I have attended many amazing workshops and events.
The workshop is on writing as a pastoral and spiritual practice.
Participants stay on the grounds of the cathedral which gives the week the flavor of a retreat. The group will have about 6 hours a day […]

survey courtesy of the RevGals:
1) Did you cook/bake anything for Thanksgiving?
I made absolutely nothing, but my brother’s girlfriend made delicious cider and a spinach/goat cheese salad with fruit. My sister made the wonderful green bean casserole and didn’t muck it up with extraneous herbs and junk. Just green beans, cream of mushroom soup, milk and […]

I feel better today–more grounded. We have the beginnings of giblet gravy reducing on the stove, pumpkin/pecan pie filling sitting in the fridge, and cornbread cooling on a rack at the table where I sit. Excuse me while I grab a bite (it’s for stuffing, it’ll never be missed).
Tonight I fulfilled the stereotype of the […]

It’s a busy time in the reverendhousehold. I fluctuate between being surly about the ginormous pile of stuff we have to do, and eerily calm in spite of it. You should see the pathetic excuse for a nursery we have. Ugly white walls, ghastly curtains left over from the previous occupant, a crib with stuff […]

R and I had our hospital tour last night.
Pre-rant caveats (does it invalidate the rant to do this? oh well): It’s a fine hospital. All the rooms are private, which isn’t the case everywhere. The tour was informative, and it’s exciting to take this step, which makes the birth seem even more real, and imminent! […]

cheerios, kix, life:
wholesome triumvirate of
toddler nutrition.
blessed trinity:
each with its own benefits,
its own quirky charm.
behold cheerios:
granddaddy of the morning
breakfast ritual.
easy to pick up,
hard to avoid stepping on—
to dust they shall return.
kix: an enigma.
“is it sweet? is it savory?”
i wonder; she eats.
bulbous stalactite,
an edible cocklebur,
dangling from her butt.
and then there is life:
a grand name for such mundane
pillows […]

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
—Mary Oliver
Here is what I love today:
• The overhang outside my study that allows me to open my window to […]

A couple Sundays ago, our accompanist stopped me between services and asked whether she could have a ride to our all-staff meeting the following Tuesday. Of course. We made our arrangements and I thought nothing of it.
When I arrived at her house she called out her front door, “C’mon in, I’ll just be a few […]

it used
to be quite
the specimen,
if i may say so:
a shapely oval,
not too deep,
pierce-able,
in fact. but now,
alas, the whole
topology’s changed:
a round gaping hole that
exposes a fleshy pink core
where i was bound, tethered
to my mother for dark months
’til at last i broke free; and now
i ponder this peculiar mountain
zenith, this reminder that my
body is not mine anymore.
we are […]

1 Thessalonians 5
Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. 2For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3When they say, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come […]

“Are you going potty? Good job Mommy.”
–C, giving her standard encouragement.
“Kissing bear!”
–C, picking an item for show-and-tell.
“These are my tighty-whities!”
–C, getting dressed.
“Well, I’m not quite sure.”
–An elderly gentleman at the nursing home where I led worship today, after being asked how he was doing.
“Could you help me put some of this on?”
–A woman at the […]

Suburban Pres. staff and I went to a one-day workshop on Congregational Transformation today. There’s a big presbytery initiative underway and this was the “come and see” session. Yes, transformation is a buzzword. Ten years ago it was redevelopment. Then we had “missional church” stuff. Now it’s transformation. Buzzwords aside, it was quite worthwhile and […]

Keith asked what the downside is for my congregation to know about this blog. Here are a few reactions I can imagine:
I’m hurt by what you said in your post about X, Y and Z. (A recent example would be my post about the elder who suggested I preach while on maternity leave.) That has […]

It’s fun to write something and see it show up in print with one’s name at the top. I’ve had this experience a few times: as a magazine intern in college and as an editor right after graduation, in a preaching journal, in the masthead of a worship resources magazine, and following a couple of […]

June is a member of a mid-morning bible study I teach twice a month. She is 86 years old, which makes her the second or third oldest member in our congregation. I think it secretly irritates her that she’s not the oldest. She is a quiet leader in our church, a strong woman to be […]

Blog Your Own Blessingway…
Below is one of the meditations I wrote for the RevGals book. It is based on a sermon I wrote for the preaching journal two years ago and then later preached in my own congregation. For those of you wondering about what a Blessingway is, here is a partial answer, particularly in […]